Saturday, July 30, 2005

British tradesman caught urinating in vase, pouring contents in heater

LONDON - A British plumber was fined and given a community service order on Tuesday after being captured on hidden cameras urinating into a vase in a customer’s attic and pouring the contents into the central heating system.

Roy Williams, 47, was caught in the act by trading standards officers who had rented the house in Leatherhead in southern England and rigged it with cameras as part of a sting operation to check on tradesmen.

The plumber had been called out to fix a simple fault but instead missed this and charged 203 pounds for unnecessary work, Steve Playle of Surrey trading standards told Reuters.

Williams then urinated into a vase, poured the urine into the hot water tank and rinsed the vase in the cold water tank.

The plumber denied the charges, claiming he had a medical condition which meant he needed the toilet regularly and had been overcome by the sound of running water.

He was sentenced to 150 hours community service by Guildford Crown Court on charges of deception and making false trades descriptions, and was ordered to pay 3,778 pounds in fines and costs incurred cleaning the water tanks.--